Microsoft Close Combat manual Grenade Launcher, Armor penetration 240 mm 9.4

96Close Combat

Panzerfaust Antitank

Grenade Launcher

Operation Grenade launcher, percussion fired Caliber 44 mm (1.73 in.)

Weight 5 to 7 kg (11 to 15.4 lbs) Overall length approx. 104 cm

(40.95 in.)

Range up to 80 m (88 yds)

Armor penetration 240 mm (9.4 in.)

Like the American Bazooka, the German Panzerfaust (“Tank Fist”) was a simple device that delivered a potent punch. In the course of the war a series of models was produced, ending with the Panzerfaust 100. All Panzerfaust models consisted of a steel tube that contained a propellant charge. As in all small arms cartridges (and unlike the electri- cally fired Bazooka and Panzerschreck launchers), the charge in the tube was ignited by percussion, firing a 44-mm hollow-charge antitank grenade from the tube. When the grenade left the tube, spring-steel fins deployed to stabilize its flight. Early models were effective only at close range—about 30 meters. Later models improved the range, first up to 80 meters, and finally up to 150 meters. Allied tank crews trapped in the blind enclosures of the Norman bocage country often became aware of concealed Panzerfaust teams only when their vehicles were struck by exploding antitank grenades.